How to hide the onscreen keyboard bar on iPad

The iPad is a fantastic device for capturing your thoughts, especially when paired with an external keyboard like the Magic Keyboard or a Bluetooth folio. It gives you a tactile, focused environment to just sit and write.

However, Apple includes a default behaviour that can sometimes get in the way: a floating onscreen popup bar at the bottom of the screen.

This bar (which Apple calls the "Shortcuts" bar) is designed to offer predictive text and quick formatting tools. But for the most part, it simply isn't needed. StarJot already gives you the formatting tools you require, and it has full support for standard keyboard shortcuts. Leaving the floating pill on screen just takes up valuable space and distracts from your workflow.

Fortunately, you can turn it off.

The quick fix

You can disable this floating bar natively in your iPadOS settings.

TIP

Ensure your external keyboard is currently connected and turned on before you do this. If the keyboard is not actively connected to the iPad, the menu option you need will be completely hidden.

Here is how to disable it:

Open the Settings app on your iPad.
Tap on General in the left-hand sidebar.
Tap on Keyboard.
Tap on Hardware Keyboard.
Find the toggle labelled Shortcuts and switch it Off.

That's it. The next time you open StarJot and start typing with your physical keyboard, the screen will remain clear.

While this isn't strictly a StarJot feature, optimising your hardware environment makes a big difference. With that bar gone, you can get back to writing at the speed of thought.